US20060273364A1 - Identical/symmetrical metal shielding - Google Patents
Identical/symmetrical metal shielding Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20060273364A1 US20060273364A1 US11/439,549 US43954906A US2006273364A1 US 20060273364 A1 US20060273364 A1 US 20060273364A1 US 43954906 A US43954906 A US 43954906A US 2006273364 A1 US2006273364 A1 US 2006273364A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- light
- shielding layers
- subset
- image sensor
- photodetectors
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
- 229910052751 metal Inorganic materials 0.000 title claims description 9
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 title claims description 7
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 13
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 9
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 8
- 229910021420 polycrystalline silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 claims 4
- 229920005591 polysilicon Polymers 0.000 claims 4
- 238000002955 isolation Methods 0.000 description 6
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
- H01L27/14—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation
- H01L27/144—Devices controlled by radiation
- H01L27/146—Imager structures
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
- H01L27/14—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation
- H01L27/144—Devices controlled by radiation
- H01L27/146—Imager structures
- H01L27/14601—Structural or functional details thereof
- H01L27/14603—Special geometry or disposition of pixel-elements, address-lines or gate-electrodes
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
- H01L27/14—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation
- H01L27/144—Devices controlled by radiation
- H01L27/146—Imager structures
- H01L27/14601—Structural or functional details thereof
- H01L27/1462—Coatings
- H01L27/14623—Optical shielding
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
- H01L27/14—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation
- H01L27/144—Devices controlled by radiation
- H01L27/146—Imager structures
- H01L27/14601—Structural or functional details thereof
- H01L27/14636—Interconnect structures
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
- H01L27/14—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation
- H01L27/144—Devices controlled by radiation
- H01L27/146—Imager structures
- H01L27/14601—Structural or functional details thereof
- H01L27/1463—Pixel isolation structures
Definitions
- the invention relates generally to the field of image sensors and, more particularly, to such image sensors in which misalignment of the light shield does not change the size of the aperture.
- FIG. 1 there is shown a prior art pixel 10 having a photodiode 20 , circuitry 30 , and isolation 40 and interconnect layers 50 .
- interconnect layers are required to connect the photodiode 20 and the circuitry 30 and to connect the pixel 10 into the pixel array 70 .
- the aperture (defined by layers 50 a , 50 b and the boundary of the photodiode 20 not covered by layer 50 b ) is set by the alignment of the photodiode 20 and the interconnect layers 50 . Relative misalignment of the photodiode 20 to the interconnect layers 50 will cause the aperture to change size, which affects pixel performance.
- a prior art pixel supercell 80 made up of a plurality of pixels 10 , such as first pixel 10 a and second pixel 10 b , where each pixel 10 contains a photodiode 20 .
- the pixels 10 within the pixel supercell 80 share circuitry 30 , and isolation 40 and interconnect layers 50 .
- FIG. 3 there is shown a prior art basic pixel 10 where variation in aperture 90 is eliminated by creating an aperture 90 on a third interconnect layer 50 c .
- This layer 50 c is the topmost of any other interconnect layers, such as a first interconnect layer 50 a or a second interconnect layer 50 b , because it must connect without gap in both directions. It also creates a minimum-sized aperture 90 since it must create a smaller aperture 90 than would result otherwise because it must be the controlling aperture.
- the invention resides in an image sensor comprising a unit cell having a plurality of pixels; the unit cell comprising (a) a plurality of photodetectors having two or more subsets in which each subset has a physical shape which is different than the other subset; (b) light-shielding layers that create an aperture associated with each photodetector; wherein the light-shielding layers are positioned so that any physical translation of the light-shielding layers with respect to the photodetectors creates a substantially equal change in optical response of the photodetectors.
- the present invention has the following advantage of not changing the aperture size due to mis-alignment of the light shielding layers.
- FIG. 1 is a top view of a prior art image sensor
- FIG. 2 is a top view of another prior art image sensor
- FIG. 3 is a top view of still another prior art image sensor
- FIG. 4 is a top view of the image sensor of the present invention.
- FIG. 5 is a top view of an alternative embodiment of the image sensor of the present invention.
- FIG. 6 is a top view of a second alternative embodiment of the image sensor of the present invention.
- FIG. 7 is a top view of a third alternative embodiment of the image sensor of the present invention.
- FIG. 8 is a top view of a fourth alternative embodiment of the image sensor of the present invention.
- FIG. 9 is a top view of a fifth alternative embodiment of the image sensor of the present invention.
- FIG. 10 is a digital camera for illustrating a typical commercial embodiment for the image sensor of the present invention.
- each photodiode 100 accumulates charge in response to light.
- the photodiodes 100 are shaped the same or substantially the same.
- the first interconnect layer 120 a defines the aperture in one direction and the second interconnect layer 120 b is positioned so that it defines the aperture in a direction orthogonal to the first interconnect layer.
- the size of the aperture does not change with relative alignment of the first interconnect layer 120 a and the second interconnect layer 120 b to each other or to other layers, including any layers that define the photodiode 100 .
- the light-shielding layers are positioned so that any physical translation of the light-shielding layers with respect to the photodiode 100 creates a substantially equal change in optical response of the photodiodes 100 .
- isolation 105 and circuitry 115 there is shown isolation 105 and circuitry 115 .
- the isolation 105 keeps the photodiode 100 and circuitry 115 isolated from each other, and the circuitry 115 provides functions related to resetting and readout of the photodiode 100 .
- a supercell 140 consists of pixels 130 a and 130 b that include photodiodes 100 . It is instructive to note that the photodiodes 100 are mirror images (or substantially mirror images) of each other. Although the photodiodes 100 are shown mirrored along the y-axis, the photodiodes 100 could be mirrored in either direction.
- the first interconnect layer 120 a and second interconnect layer 120 b are the same as in FIG. 4 .
- the size of the aperture (defined by layers 120 a , 120 b and the boundary of the photodiode 100 not covered by layers 120 a and 120 b ) does not change with relative alignment of the first interconnect layer 120 a and the second interconnect layer 120 b to each other or to other layers, including any layers that define the photodiode 100 .
- FIG. 6 there is shown a second alternative embodiment.
- the photodiodes 100 and first interconnect layer 120 a and second interconnect layer 120 b are the same as in FIG. 5 except that the second interconnect layer 120 b has a shorter length in the y direction. It is instructive to note that the aperture is defined by first interconnect layer 120 a and photodiode 100 .
- FIG. 7 there is shown a third alternative embodiment.
- This embodiment is the same as FIG. 6 except that the photodiodes 100 are mirror images (or substantially mirror images) of each other along the y-axis.
- the photodiodes 100 are shown mirrored along the y-axis, the photodiodes 100 could be mirrored in either direction.
- the aperture is defined as the same as in FIG. 6 .
- first interconnect layer 120 a defines the aperture in one direction and the second interconnect layer 120 b defines the aperture in an orthogonal direction. Similar to the other embodiments of the present invention, the size of the aperture does not change with relative alignment of the first interconnect layer 120 a and the second interconnect layer 120 b to each other or to other layers, including any layers that define the photodiode 100 .
- FIG. 9 there is shown a fifth alternative embodiment which is the same as FIG. 8 except that the photodiodes 100 are mirror images (or substantially mirror images) of each other along the y-axis.
- FIG. 10 there is shown a digital camera 160 having the image sensor 110 of the present invention therein for illustrating a typical commercial embodiment.
- subset includes one or more photodetectors.
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Electromagnetism (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Solid State Image Pick-Up Elements (AREA)
- Transforming Light Signals Into Electric Signals (AREA)
Priority Applications (6)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US11/439,549 US20060273364A1 (en) | 2005-06-01 | 2006-05-24 | Identical/symmetrical metal shielding |
TW095119248A TW200703697A (en) | 2005-06-01 | 2006-05-30 | Identical/symmetrical metal shielding |
EP06771465A EP1889295A1 (en) | 2005-06-01 | 2006-05-31 | Identical/symmetrical metal shielding |
KR1020077027728A KR20080012321A (ko) | 2005-06-01 | 2006-05-31 | 동일/대칭의 금속 차폐부 |
PCT/US2006/020715 WO2006130544A1 (en) | 2005-06-01 | 2006-05-31 | Identical/symmetrical metal shielding |
JP2008514747A JP2008546202A (ja) | 2005-06-01 | 2006-05-31 | 同一/対称メタルシールディング |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US68610505P | 2005-06-01 | 2005-06-01 | |
US11/439,549 US20060273364A1 (en) | 2005-06-01 | 2006-05-24 | Identical/symmetrical metal shielding |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20060273364A1 true US20060273364A1 (en) | 2006-12-07 |
Family
ID=37493306
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US11/439,549 Abandoned US20060273364A1 (en) | 2005-06-01 | 2006-05-24 | Identical/symmetrical metal shielding |
Country Status (6)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US20060273364A1 (ko) |
EP (1) | EP1889295A1 (ko) |
JP (1) | JP2008546202A (ko) |
KR (1) | KR20080012321A (ko) |
TW (1) | TW200703697A (ko) |
WO (1) | WO2006130544A1 (ko) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20200194478A1 (en) * | 2018-12-14 | 2020-06-18 | Novatek Microelectronics Corp. | Image sensor of fingerprint |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2013190408A1 (en) * | 2012-06-20 | 2013-12-27 | Koninklijke Philips N.V. | X-ray detector pixel layout. |
Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6316814B1 (en) * | 1999-02-24 | 2001-11-13 | Nec Corporation | Solid imaging device |
US20050122418A1 (en) * | 2003-12-03 | 2005-06-09 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Solid state image pickup device, method for producing the same, and image pickup system comprising the solid state image pickup device |
Family Cites Families (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPH0992809A (ja) * | 1995-09-27 | 1997-04-04 | Nikon Corp | 固体撮像装置 |
JP2004104203A (ja) * | 2002-09-05 | 2004-04-02 | Toshiba Corp | 固体撮像装置 |
-
2006
- 2006-05-24 US US11/439,549 patent/US20060273364A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2006-05-30 TW TW095119248A patent/TW200703697A/zh unknown
- 2006-05-31 EP EP06771465A patent/EP1889295A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2006-05-31 WO PCT/US2006/020715 patent/WO2006130544A1/en active Application Filing
- 2006-05-31 JP JP2008514747A patent/JP2008546202A/ja not_active Withdrawn
- 2006-05-31 KR KR1020077027728A patent/KR20080012321A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
Patent Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6316814B1 (en) * | 1999-02-24 | 2001-11-13 | Nec Corporation | Solid imaging device |
US20050122418A1 (en) * | 2003-12-03 | 2005-06-09 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Solid state image pickup device, method for producing the same, and image pickup system comprising the solid state image pickup device |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20200194478A1 (en) * | 2018-12-14 | 2020-06-18 | Novatek Microelectronics Corp. | Image sensor of fingerprint |
US10854648B2 (en) * | 2018-12-14 | 2020-12-01 | Novatek Microelectronics Corp. | Image sensor of fingerprint |
US11201181B2 (en) | 2018-12-14 | 2021-12-14 | Novatek Microelectronics Corp. | Image sensor of fingerprint |
TWI762808B (zh) * | 2018-12-14 | 2022-05-01 | 聯詠科技股份有限公司 | 指紋影像感測器 |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2006130544A1 (en) | 2006-12-07 |
JP2008546202A (ja) | 2008-12-18 |
KR20080012321A (ko) | 2008-02-11 |
EP1889295A1 (en) | 2008-02-20 |
WO2006130544A8 (en) | 2007-06-21 |
TW200703697A (en) | 2007-01-16 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, NEW YORK Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:MCGRATH, R. DANIEL;GUIDASH, R. MICHAEL;KENNEY, TIMOTHY J.;REEL/FRAME:017937/0831 Effective date: 20060524 |
|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |